1.1 About the ATI TEAS 7 Exam

What the ATI TEAS 7 Is

The ATI TEAS (Test of Essential Academic Skills), Version 7 is a standardized admission assessment that nursing and allied-health programs across the United States and Canada use to gauge whether an applicant is academically ready for a demanding healthcare curriculum. It is published by Assessment Technologies Institute (ATI) and is currently in its seventh edition (TEAS 7), which replaced TEAS 6 in June 2022.

ATI notes that 30% of qualified applicants are turned away from ADN, diploma and BSN programs, and many schools weigh the TEAS alongside GPA and other factors (ATI), so a strong TEAS score strengthens your application.

The TEAS is not a pass/fail licensing exam like the NCLEX. It is a readiness test: it measures the foundational reading, math, science, and language skills you will need before you ever touch a nursing textbook. Think of it as a placement and selection tool that programs bolt onto GPA, prerequisite grades, and interviews.

Who Requires the TEAS

Nursing schools and allied health programs use the TEAS (ATI), including practical (LPN/LVN), associate-degree (ADN), and bachelor-of-science (BSN) nursing programs:

• Nursing programs — LPN/LVN, ADN, BSN, and some accelerated/second-degree BSN tracks
• Allied health — for example, dental hygiene (HACC) and radiologic technology (Atlantic Cape Community College) programs
• Health science prerequisites — some pre-nursing and pre-health certificate programs use it for placement

Always confirm with your specific program whether the TEAS is required, which version they accept, and what minimum score they want. Some programs use other tests, such as the HESI A2 (Texas State University switches from the TEAS to the HESI from the fall 2028 cycle).

The Four Sections

The TEAS 7 is built from four content areas administered in a fixed order. You cannot rearrange them, and you cannot return to a section once you submit it. The table below shows the official structure, separating the total items you will see from the items that actually count toward your score.

The 20 unscored "pretest" items are experimental questions ATI is field-testing for future exams. They are scattered invisibly among the scored items — you cannot tell which is which — so you should answer every question as if it counts.

Computer-Based and Remote Options

The TEAS 7 is delivered on a computer; ATI says very few schools still use the paper version. You have two main ways to take it:

1. At a school or a PSI test center — schools can host TEAS sessions on their own campuses, and PSI test centers also offer in-person seats.
2. Remotely (online) with live proctoring — TEAS at ATI (or TEAS at PSI online) lets you test from home with a live proctor who checks your ID, scans your room, and watches via webcam.

A built-in basic calculator (add, subtract, multiply, divide, plus percent, square root and memory keys) is available on screen on every question in every section. You may not bring your own calculator, scientific or graphing models, or scratch notes; the testing software provides everything.

Section Timing and Pacing

Because the sections are individually timed, you must manage the clock within each one — leftover time in Reading does not roll over into Math. There is a single optional 10-minute break after the Mathematics section (i.e., between Math and Science). The Science section gets the most total time (60 minutes), which fits its size: it is the largest and most content-heavy area.

Example: Maria starts the Reading section with 55 minutes for 45 questions — about 73 seconds per item. She spends too long on a tricky inference question and burns 4 minutes. Because Reading time cannot be reclaimed later, she now has less cushion for the remaining Reading items. The lesson: pace yourself within each section and flag-and-move rather than over-investing in any single question.

Why This Structure Matters

Knowing the fixed order, the per-section timing, and the scored-vs-pretest split changes how you prepare. Because Science is the largest section (44 scored items), it deserves the largest share of your study time. Because Reading comes first while you are freshest, you want a reliable reading strategy ready to go. And because there is no penalty for guessing (covered in detail in section 1.3), you should never leave a question blank, even on a pretest item you suspect is experimental.